Karns City football stadium gets new name

September 13, 2013News Extra

KARNS CITY — The plan for a new scoreboard at Karns City High School was set in motion over a year ago.

With help from Diehl Automotive Group, it officially came to fruition Friday night.

Diehl bought the new scoreboard for the school district for $35,000 to $40,000.

Because of that, the athletic field at Karns City was dedicated on Friday as Diehl Stadium before the Gremlins’ 49-12 football win over Moniteau.

The district last year upgraded the track and field complex, but there wasn’t enough money for another major project.

“After (the track and field) completion, we think people started to realize the condition of the former scoreboard,” said Karns City superintendent Eric Ritzert. “As we looked at its cost, we realized on top of the project itself, we couldn’t afford it.”

Bob Stiehler, a 1987 Karns City graduate, is the service director at Diehl Automotive and provided an idea for a possible solution.

While attending a junior high football game last year, Stiehler heard people discussing the need for a new scoreboard and ran into assistant football coach Brian Markle.

“I asked (Markle) if he had ever talked about going to any of the businesses around town (for funding), and he did and some of them really weren’t receptive to it,” said Stiehler.

Stiehler thought Corina Diehl, the president and owner of Diehl Automotive in Penn Township, might be willing to help.

“I went back to my car and got my phone, called Corina and within about 10 minutes on the phone, I had her really interested in it,” said Stiehler. “It kind of snowballed really fast.”

Diehl Stadium is the second high school complex in Butler County to be sold for the naming rights, with Seneca Valley’s NexTier Stadium being the first.